LOS ANGELES -- There have been a lot of players in recent years who have walked into the Giants clubhouse for the first time and insisted that they grew up rooting for the team, and there are times when their answers raise suspicion.
That was not at all the case with Luis Ortiz on Wednesday morning.
The right-hander was called up Wednesday morning to add bullpen depth ahead of the final game at Dodger Stadium and a doubleheader on Thursday in Milwaukee. Ortiz grew up in Sanger, a small city just east of Fresno, and naturally, Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain were two of his favorite Giants. But when asked who he remembers watching, he first listed Todd Linden.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
That's a serious Giants fan right there.
Ortiz will now suit up for his childhood team and he called it a dream come true. For the Giants, it's a necessary move, and Ortiz jumped the line by exhibiting one very clear skill with Triple-A Sacramento. He threw a ton of strikes.
"We really respect the ability to get in the zone and stay in the zone around here," manager Gabe Kapler said.
Kapler said that, when it comes to adding arms from Triple-A, he values strike-throwing over everything else. Ortiz had issued just 12 walks in 63 2/3 innings in Triple-A, where he had a 4.66 ERA.
San Francisco Giants
Find the latest San Francisco Giants news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
The Giants debut will not be the big league debut for the 26-year-old, who was a first-round pick in 2014. He made three big league appearances, including two starts, for the Baltimore Orioles in 2018-19, although they didn't go well.
Ortiz relies on a sinker and slider, and while the stuff is not overpowering, he has had success by being aggressive in the zone. The Giants right now need someone they can rely on to throw strikes, because the bullpen is in a tough spot. The group covered eight innings on Tuesday and there are 18 innings coming up Thursday. Jakob Junis will get a chunk of those and Sean Hjelle is likely to be recalled, but this is still a brutal stretch for the relievers.
Ortiz was happy to join the group, noting that the power went out in Sacramento on Tuesday and he was sitting around in 110-degree heat a few hours before getting the call back to the big leagues. Around 11:30 p.m., he was told to get to Los Angeles and join his favorite team. If he can make it through this road trip, he'll get a chance to pitch next week at Oracle Park, where he has been just once before.
RELATED: Posey praises Bart for overcoming 'mental hurdle' this season
That trip was a memorable one, as Ortiz got tickets to a 2014 playoff game from former Fresno State pitcher and Giants bullpen coach Mark Gardner. He was sitting about 15 rows back of the visiting dugout when Travis Ishikawa sent the Giants to the World Series.
"I just remember, when he hit that homer, the place went crazy," Ortiz said.